Do you need a professional to replace an expansion valve?
Replacing an expansion valve requires special equipment and there are a number of laws regarding handling refrigerants. So it is strongly recommended that you engage a professional to do this job. But if you want to tackle this job yourself, there may be ways to get help with the heavy equipment. Step 1: Identify the refrigerant.
Where is the expansion valve on my car?
If you don’t find the expansion valve under the panel, you’ll have to remove the panels under the dashboard and look for it on the other side. Step 2: Remove the expansion valve.
How do you know if an air conditioner expansion valve is recoverable?
Step 1: Identify the refrigerant. Using the service manual, locate the low pressure fitting of the two AC service fittings on the car and connect the refrigerant identifier to the car. The refrigerant identifier will take a small sample of the refrigerant in the system and tell you if it is recoverable or not.
How many lines does an expansion valve have?
The expansion valve will have at least two refrigerant lines going to it and may have a fine capillary tube as well. Some models have four lines that are held on by fastening plates.
What is block expansion valve?
A block style expansion valve uses a temperature sensing disc rather than a remote sensing bulb. A block expansion valve has both the liquid and vapor lines running through it. The sensing disc detect changes in exiting gas temperature and moves a tapered needle into or out of a metering port. How expansion valves fail.
How does the expansion valve in refrigeration work?
The expansion valve controls the amount of refrigerant supplied to the evaporator by maintaining superheat at the outlet of the evaporator. Evaporators are heat exchangers that transfer heat from the process fluid into the refrigerant causing a phase change, evaporation.
What is an expansion valve in a car?
An expansion valve is an AC component that is commonly found on many road going vehicles. It is usually installed at the evaporator inlet and works together with the orifice tube to regulate the flow of refrigerant through the vehicle’s AC system.
How does AC expansion valve system work?
How does an automotive AC expansion valve system work. Many car makers now use automotive AC expansion valve in their AC systems. An expansion valve is simply a refrigerant metering device to control the rate of flow of refrigerant into the evaporator located in your dash . In the illustration below, you’ll see that low pressure gas flows out of the evaporator coil and through the expansion valve.